one of the best advice for playing good improv solo is from bb king himself. search guitar mags for interviews with him.

oh ya, train your ears too. that has really helped me alot especially when improvising on slower solos where melodies are very important.

take a look at asura. first jam session he didnt really play much. the next jam session he was kicking trio of terror's asses already. you should ask him how he improved so fast.

one cheating way is to learn all the modes in different box shapes. that way, anywhere u are on the fretboard you can just whack something within the shape and still be safe. this my friend, is called guitar wanking.

on asura's method of connecting the dots, im assuming its between 2 notes. this technique isnt very melodic, but it works for short solos in a rock context. you can play notes within the scale to play safe. however, you can add crossover notes(chromatics) to reach that target note. it creates more tension. (listen to how John Petrucci). however, dont emphasise these notes(that are not in the scale) in your solos...unless u wanna claim you're some canggih fusion jazz metal player. good notes to start a solo with is the root note (duh), the 3rd and the 5th (if you know your theory, you'll know these 3 notes make up the core of a chord). a simple way to start is to slide to any one of those notes. another way to start of a solo (metal style) is to do a fast scale run all the way up to your 'target' note (target note= the note you're aiming to reach)

here are some tips thats in my head (hey its midnight and im sleepy):
1. guitar techniques. this is one strong advantage we have over other instruments such as piano. maximise the techniques you know. if all you do is tremolo pick, try to add some bends, pulloffs, sweeps, vibrato, dive bombs, slides, etc. Now it might sound simple but think well if you have really fully maximised the technique.
a. take for example, slide. one underused technique is sliding down to the note! we're so used to just sliding up to a note.
b. another example is bends. we usually bend from one note up. there are many ways to do this. you can bend first(not pick or sound the note) then pick and release the bend. or you can hit the note then quickly bend up. or you could do it very bluesy, by hitting the note, add vibrato then slowly bend the note up.

See theres so many things you can do to add colour to your solo. Now imagine combining 2 techniques! Bend, then tap then release your bend then let go of your tapping note or why not sweep then tap? showoff/posing possibilities are endless

2. Think of solos like a story. do an intro, build the story, build a climax, do an outro. im sure u've heard of this many times. different people have different approaches to this. some can just think of music notes whereas some cant. you can try techniques like having a movie scene in your head and you play a solo as if its soundtrack to tell what is going on. or some people would like to think of colours (red=angry/brave, pink=girly) and then solo based on that colour.

3. work on your hearing.
a. be able to hear the difference between intervals. this is good to give you a clearer picture of what a melody should sound like. it also helps for you to be able to tell more clearly when listening to a piece of music. if you work on this well, the next time you listen to a dragonforce guitar solo, you wouldnt consider it noise but can tell in greater detail what they both are actually doing.

b. its also good to be able to know how each note sounds different. example is play the sweet child of mine solo in its original key. then, play it a full step down. hear that it has so much difference to the feel of the solo even though its exactly the same solo. the choice of notes you choose does make a difference. it might work for a song but might not for a different one.

4. know all the notes accross your fretboard. i think this should be number 1, but heck im lazy to edit as im typing everything out from my head. how can you solo when you dont even know what notes thats on your fretboard? memorising box shapes will only help you so far. the benefits of knowing where the notes are is endless. im lazy to type everything. one of them is you can play the note thats closest to you instead of choosing a further one. this minimises movement and helps speed. another is tone. is the E on the 2nd fret of the 3rd string the same as the one on the 12th fret 1st string? hell no. the one on the first string sounds thicker, due to the string gauge.

5. think outside the box. how? dont think of it how a guitarist would play it. try thinking what would a pianist do? what would a violinist play? if you're not sure what they play as you dont know the isntrument, try learning songs and transcribing them to guitar. like for me, i learn what vanessa carlton plays on the piano on my guitar. it opens up a whole new view on how you could play your instrument.
another good one is play like how a singer would sing it. one way to work/practice on this is take a song, and try to solo exactly the singers role (play what the singer is singing). you will notice how smart the choices of notes are. since a vocalist range is small compared to a guitar, the amount of choices the vocalist have is very limited. second thing you'll notice is how much articulation a vocalist has (the rests, the accents, the dynamics, etc). you can create a solo with just ONE note using all these articulations.

thats all i can think of right now. sorry if i sound unorganised. its late and im chatting on msn as im typing this.
hope it helps

want more? pay me for guitar lessons.

This post has been edited by echobrainproject: Aug 30 2007, 12:27 AM

care to explain more? give some practical examples.